Help!

Is there a "standard" truck that German infantry would have used in 1940?

My Grandmother told me that they did not see many tanks during the invasion of Belgium, but did see "lots, and lots of trucks". I'm doing a dio of refugees on bikes being passed by German trucks. ...is my best best to grab some Opel Blitz trucks? Is there a better option?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Steve

The Blitz is OK (and it's probably the cheapest option ) :

"German army trucks passing through the ruins of a village near the river Meuse. France, 13th May 1940"



but here's another option :





H.P.

Is the Tamiya Krupp Protze still available? It would do as well.

Gaz

Here you go: Tamiya Krupp Protze (2 versions in 1/35 scale) ... and here's some stowage from Value Gear
HTH.

—mike

Another option :

The Einheit-Diesel :





H.P.

There is also the Ford V3000 kit by ICM. Nice kit too. The problem is,the Germans did not really have a lot of assembly line factories at the wars' beginning and still bought trucks from a wild variety of sources and also used captured trucks. It is no exaggeration to say a motorized Bn could have as many as 10 to 15 different makes of vehicles within its' inventory. Making it a nightmare for the maintenance folks. The good thing was,in those days there were still a lot of real mechanics around that could actually FIX things and fabricate parts. Today we just replace parts and rarely repair them.

One thing that everyone here seems to have forgotten- Throughout World War II, the German Army (HEER) and SS were largely HORSE-DRAWN, as far as transport goes...

You might want to consider some kits such as TAMIYA's "Gulaschkanone" Field Kitchen, of which 2 different kits were made. (I believe RIICH or BRONCO? also makes one) There are various other German WWII horse-drawn Carts, Supply Wagons, and Ambulances made by manufacturers such as ITALERI, ESCI, MASTER BOX, BRONCO and others.

It should also be remembered that the German Army "requisitioned" many civilian vehicles into military service, so virtually any European Car or Truck of the World War II era that you can possibly find in 1/35 scale can be used in your diorama as German "Transport". ICM has a very nice range of WWII German vehicles; ZVEZDA's L4500 Mercedes Trucks are also very nice kits...

Hi Jerry

I believe the production of this truck started in 1941

The G917T would be a better choice :



H.P.

gotta love the opel blitz!! Dragon,Cyberhobby,Revell, Italeri ,ICM & Tamiya all make nice kits.
Yes ICM has a variety.
Didn't Germany even have a coal driven truck? Italeri kit #6457

What about the Opel Maultier.

Dragon version

Cyberhobby Opel Blitz

PS- Those IBG Models are very expensive.

Hi David

The trucks pictured in your post (save the last one) wouldn't be usable for a 1940 dio...

H.P.

Infantry mostly walked - motorised infantry (Pz Gren and Mot formations) had trucks but infantry divs were not that heavily equipped with them in 1940. Hence the huge number of French and ex-BEF MT that accompanied the Wehrmacht during Barbarossa the following year, despite the logistical challenges that presented.

they also were heavily dependent on horse-drawn wagons as well.

While I agree that horseflesh is woefully under-represented in our hobby for Wehrmacht ANY year, I am currently reading Alistair Horne's To Lose a Battle: France 1940 which describes the traffic jams of trucks on the few, narrow roads of the Ardennes during the thrust to the Meuse. The trucks carried supplies, and not usually infantry, except in motorized divisions. And even then most of the infantry appear to have walked to war.

This is all very useful info for sure and quite informative. Keep in mind though that the original query was for what kind of truck would be the most common or likely to be used in 1940.
We may be muddying the issue here by good intention,though.
J

That's right Jerry! But all good intent of course. I really appreciate all the comments, and the pictures and examples help swear me towards or away from certain models. I always appreciate additional historic information. Plus, a diorama with different types of trucks might be a bitore interesting! Any other photos would be awesome too .

Thanks again!!

Steve

France 1940 :

Radio trucks :


More trucks...



H.P.

Steve,

Here's a link where you can find tons of pics categorized into threads.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=202634&sid=dd61f5f5f4da494f9bb4d533000e28fdZ

Happy hunting!

Tat